LNDN SOCY 3353 Queer Studies and LGBTQ Life in and the Global World

Course Description: This course analyses the relationship between sexuality and London’s history since the late nineteenth century to the pre- sent day. As a Queer Studies course, a central theme will be how understandings of sexuality have changed over the last one hundred years. We will particularly consider how western identity terms, such as bisexual, gay, lesbian, straight and transgender are relatively recent inventions and are largely the creation of colonial trajectories and the late nineteenth- century western medical gaze. But we will also acknowledge how the terms LGBTQ1 have been reclaimed in the twentieth century as a result of the American civil rights movements, LGBTQ movements, Women’s movements as well as anti-colonial struggles. Most importantly, we will ask what is distinctive about Queer Studies in the London context and we will readily engage with contemporary Queer life and culture in London via an interdisciplinary approach to sexuality; the latter ap- proach is characteristic of Queer Studies.

Course Aims: Throughout the course, students will examine London as both the ex-centre of the British empire and as a contemporary city that is intrinsically connected to numerous postcolonial contexts and the wider global world. Students will also examine the relationship between colonial legacies and current discussions surrounding sexuality, culture and ethnicity in Britain and in the wider postcolonial world, such as the debates surrounding the legal statutes which Britain introduced to its various col- onies during the British empire and which still remain in many of its ex-colonies. Through both a historical and cross-cultural approach, students will engage with the specific socio-historical context(s) which have shaped current sexuality debates. More broadly, this course provides students with an interdisciplinary introduction to the debates surrounding sexuality, cul- ture and ethnicity.

Requirements and Prerequisites: No prior knowledge of conceptual and socio-historical approaches to sexuality are required for this course.

Learning Outcomes: At the end of this course, a student will have the knowledge and skills to: a. Analyse the dynamic relationship between sexuality and London’s history since the late nineteenth century b. Communicate ideas in both oral and verbal forms c. Compare LGBTQ life and history in London with wider global contexts especially in relation to urban environment and globalisation d. Critically appreciate how Queer Studies challenges traditional disciplinary boundaries e. Understand the social dynamics and diversity of LGBTQ life and history in London

Developmental Outcomes: Students should demonstrate: responsibility & accountability, independence & interdependence, goal orientation, self- confidence, resilience, appreciation of differences.

Class Methodology:

1 LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer. 1

Students will get the chance to apply concepts from the course content through experiential learning with visits to sites around London. Proposed sites include the , the , the Black Cultural Archives, the Wellcome Collection, a walking tour of Soho as well as guest speakers. Other site visits will be suggested during the course for stu- dents’ further interest. The class will also makes use of feature films, documentaries, music, political/personal manifes- toes, critical theory, autobiographical novels, poems, legal documents and postcolonial nationalist histories.

Field Components: CAPA provides the unique opportunity to learn about the city through direct, guided experience. Participation in field activi- ties for this course is required. You will actively explore the Global City in which you are currently living. Furthermore, you will have the chance to collect useful information that will be an invaluable resource for the essays/papers/projects assigned in this course.

The Assigned Field Component(s) are: Week 3: Field study to the Freud Museum Week 5: Walking tour of Soho Week 8: Field study to the Wellcome Collection Week 10: Field study to the British Museum Week 12: Field study to the Black Cultural Archives

Students are also strongly encouraged to participate in co-curricular program activities, among which the following are sug- gested: (a) Abbey Road and Regent’s Park Tour (b) London LGBTQ film festival BFI (c) LGBTQ history month events across London in February 2016 (d) Free LGBTQ film screenings at The Cinema Museum: http://www.cinemamuseum.org.uk/

Assessment/Grading Policy:

Descriptor Alpha UK US GPA Excellent A 75+ 93+ 4.0 A- 70-74 90-92 3.7 Good B+ 66-69 87-89 3.3 B 63-65 83-86 3.0 B- 60-62 80-82 2.7 Average C+ 56-59 77-79 2.3 C 53-55 73-76 2.0

Below Average / C- 50-52 70-72 1.7 Poor D+ 46-49 67-69 1.3 D 40-45 60-66 0.7 1.0 Fail F <40 <60 0

Grade Breakdown and Assessment of Learning Outcomes: Assessment Task Grade % Learning Outcomes Due Date Class participation/Small group discussion 10% a, b, c, d, e Weekly Oral Presentation 25% b., e. Weeks 4, 6, 9 or 11 1 X 15-20 min. group presentation Research Paper 1 15% a, b, d, e Week 6 Research Paper 2 25% c, d, e Week 14 Engagements (x 5) [each worth 5%] 25% all Weeks 2, 4, 6, 9, 11

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Assignments: (1) Engagements (25% of overall course mark where each individual engagement is worth 5%): The purpose of engagements is to have you critically engage course readings and concepts on a small scale. Engagements will take a number of forms, including generating questions for class discussions, responding to questions I pose about readings, attending events and connecting them to class concepts….and so forth. You will complete five engagements dur- ing the semester.

(2) Research Papers: PAPER 1: (1000 words, due week 6 and worth 15% of the overall course mark)

You will write on ONE of the following topics: 1. How are contemporary sexual identity terms influenced by the late nineteenth century context? 2. What use is Queer Studies as an interdisciplinary field of study? 3. What does the expression ‘the personal is political’ mean in terms of sexual politics? 4. How would you adjudicate between the rival claims of queer politics and identity politics? 5. Is sexuality an integral part of a person's identity? Discuss. 6. What is distinct about LGBTQ life in London?

PAPER 2: (2000 words, due week 14 and worth 25% of the overall course mark) You may write on ONE of the following topics. But students are encouraged to think of their own topics for this paper: 1. ‘“Whiteness” is often read (or not read) as the blank slate around which “the other” is constructed.’ Do contemporary representations of sexuality simultaneously advance cultural constructions of race? 2. How do constructions of race and/or ethnicity inform constructions of sexuality and is it useful or limiting to consider these identitarian categories separately? 3. ‘Sexual expression is perhaps the most fundamental manifestation of human individuality. Erotic material is subversive in the sense that it celebrates, and appeals to, the most uniquely personal aspects of an individual’s emotional life.’ (Mongiovi) Discuss. 4. Is it useful to compare understandings of sexuality in London with wider global contexts? Support your essay response with reference to contextual examples.

(3) PRESENTATION: Sexuality and London’s history (25%) Each student will give a presentation as part of the course on a theme, or angle, on sexuality and London’s history. These themes may include, but are not limited to: • sexuality and London as an urban context • the intersection between gender and sexuality (or gender, sexuality and ethnicity) • representations of LGBTQ people in London’s history • empire and sexuality • sexuality and politics • gay marriage, civil unions and/or civil marriage • sexuality and human rights • sexuality and ideas of national belonging • sexuality and the media • sexuality and postcolonial cultures

Course Materials: All essential course reading will be made available to students.

Required Readings: The required reading for each week is listed in the course schedule

Recommended Reading(s): Cocks, Harry and Matt Houlbrook. Eds. (2006). Palgrave Advances in the Modern History of Sexuality. London, Palgrave Macmillan. Cook, Matt. London and the Culture of Homosexuality, 1885-1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. Doan, Laura. Disturbing Practices: History, Sexuality and Women’s Experiences of Modern War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013. Gandhi, Leela. Postcolonial Theory, A Critical Introduction. Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press. Gopinath, Gayatri. Impossible Desires: Queer Diasporas and South Asian Public Cultures. Durham: Duke University Press. Hawley, John C., Postcolonial, Queer: Theoretical Intersections. New York: State University of New York Press, 2001. Houlbrook, Matt. Queer London: Perils and Pleasures in the Sexual Metropolis, 1918-1957. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005. 3

Lewis, Reina & Sara Mills. (2003). Feminist Postcolonial Theory. New York, Edinburgh University Press. Warner, Michael. (1993). Fear of a Queer Planet: Queer Politics and Social Theory. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press.

Weekly Course Schedule:

WEEK 1 ‘Introducing Queer Studies and LGBTQ life in London and the Global World’ Lesson Number / title

Meeting time and CAPA London Centre Venue Today’s class introduces some of the central concepts and ideas on the course. We will al- In—class activity so look at clips from the 1985 film My Beautiful Launderette in order to start thinking about what is distinctive about queer studies in London, Britain and the wider world. Out—of—class activity NONE Some web resources on sexuality in London and broader contexts: • Resources for the study of sexuality: http://outhistory.org/oldwiki/About • History of LGBTQ life in London: http://www.brokeinlondon.com/the-molly-spoon- Readings archive/ • Queer Theory by Annamarie Jagose: http://www.australianhumanitiesreview.org/archive/Issue-Dec-1996/jagose.html Assignments NONE Notes

WEEK 2 ‘Inventing Sexuality’ Lesson Number / title

Meeting time and CAPA London Centre Venue This week we focus on the emergence of western sexual identity terms via nineteenth- century western medical discourses and colonial ideas of ‘difference’. We will consider In—class activity these ideas in relation to our week 3 visit to the Freud Museum in order to analyse how Freud's ideas have shaped the broader discussions surrounding sexuality in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Out—of—class activity NONE Required Reading: • Bristow, Joseph (1997) Sexuality Ch2: ‘Sexological Types’ (at least pp. 12-46 ‘Sexual Classifications’) and Ch4: ‘Discursive Desires’ (at least pp. 168-188 Readings ‘Foucault’s Bodies’) • Forman, Ross (2006) ‘Race & Empire’ in Palgrave Advances in the Modern History of Sexuality. H.G. Cocks and Matt Houlbrook (eds). Pps. 109-132. ***Engagement 1 which is due by the beginning of week 2 class***: 1. (From Bristow chapter 1) Some critics argue that early sexologists' research in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has simplified later discussions of sexuality, particularly in how a lot of sexologists' research has presented homosexuality as ‘deviant’ or ‘unnatu- ral’. Other critics say that early sexologists have played an important role in legiti- mising the study of sexuality. Do you think that early sexologists' research helped to stimulate an interest in sexual diversity? Assignments 2. (From Bristow chapter 1) Why did early sexologists focus on discovering ‘universal’ truths when approaching the study of sexuality? What would have propelled them to utilise such research methods?

3. (From Bristow chapter 4): What four nineteenth century phenomena did Foucault focus on in order to illus- trate how the attempt to censor certain issues in the west paradoxically gives rise 4

to an explosion of discourses? (Begins on p 174) NB: This is Foucault's main point about power because, for Foucault, polic- ing/censoring bodies/desires can allow for peoples/desire to participate in power dynamics.

4. (Ross Forman reading): Why are sexuality, class and ethnicity so linked in the British context since at least the late nineteenth century? [Think back to the colonial and Victorian obsession with categorization].

Notes

WEEK 3 ‘Field trip to the Freud Museum’ Lesson Number / title

Meeting time and Outside the Freud Museum at the beginning of class Venue In—class activity NONE Out—of—class activity Field trip to the Freud Museum Required Reading: • Barker, Stephen. Excavations and their Objects: Freud’s Collection of Antiquity. Albany: State University of New York Press, 1996. Readings • Crozier, I.D., ‘Taking Prisoners: Havelock Ellis, Sigmund Freud and the Construction of Homosexuality, 1897-1951’. Social History of Medicine. 1 (3), 2000. 447-466. • Rutherford, Paul. A World Made Sexy: From Freud to Madonna. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2007. ***Engagement 2 for weeks 3-4 which is due at the beginning of week 4 class***: 1. From the evidence you can find in Freud's study and the rest of the house, where do you think he got his ideas from?

2. Look at the small filing cabinet at the bottom of the stairs. Each drawer contains objects and is labelled with a Freudian concept. Take one object and explain its relationship to that concept. How does the same object relate to one of the other drawers?

3. Look carefully at the Family Tree on the upstairs landing. Assignments What evidence can you find about events of the first five years of Freud’s life, which may have influenced the development of his work?

4. Look at the dreams scattered around the museum.

What do these dreams tell you about Freud’s relationship to either his mother or his fa- ther or his children?

5. Which specific parts of the Museum reflect Freud’s theories on sexuality? Can we see the influence of these theories in contemporary culture? [Think of Freud’s pivotal role in the emergence of psychoanalysis here.] Notes

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WEEK 4 Lesson Number / title ‘Queer London in the early to mid-twentieth century’ Meeting time and CAPA London Centre Venue In—class activity Lecture and small group discussion Out—of—class activity NONE Required reading: • Cook, Matt. London and the Culture of Homosexuality, 1885-1914. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008. • Doan, Laura. Disturbing Practices: History, Sexuality and Women’s Experiences of Readings Modern War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013. • Houlbrook, Matt. Queer London: Perils and Pleasures in the Sexual Metropolis, 1918-1957. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005.

Assignments ***Engagement 2 due for today***

Notes

WEEK 5 Lesson Number / title ‘Walking Tour of Soho’ Meeting time and Outside Leicester Square tube station Venue In—class activity NONE Out—of—class activity Walking Tour of the wider Soho area Required reading: • Mort, Frank. ‘Cityscapes: Consumption, masculinities and the mapping of London since 1950’. Urban Studies. 35(5-6), 1998. 899-907. Readings • ‘Soho Memories’ website: http://www.sohomemories.org.uk/ • Walkowitz, Judith. (293): City of Dreadful Delight: Narratives of Sexual Danger in Late Nineteenth Century London. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2013. ***Engagement 3 for weeks 5-6 which is due at the beginning of week 6 class***: 1. How has Soho changed from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century? [See Houlbrook from week 4 in particular for this.] 2. What features of Soho make the area stand out as a gay area? 3. What is the relationship between the central gay area of Soho and Chinatown? Assignments Is it random that immigration is a distinctive historical feature of Soho? 4. Is Soho comparable with other urban spaces in London or elsewhere? 5. Does gender as a marker of difference stand out in any of the gay friendly establishments?

Notes

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WEEK 6 Lesson Number / title ‘LGBTQ Life in London and Civil Rights in the Post-World War Two Era’ Meeting time and CAPA London Centre Venue In—class activity Small group work and short lecture Out—of—class activity NONE Required reading: • Sinfield, Alan. Literature, Politics and Culture in Postwar Britain. London: The Athlone Press, 1997. Readings • We will also watch part of the 1985 documentary Before Stonewall

Further suggested links: Recovered photos of gay couples in the 1950s: http://news.distractify.com/people/lifshitz-vintage-lgbt-photos/?v=1 ***Engagement 3: Written response to the Soho walking tour due for today*** ***Research Paper 1 is due*** Assignments

Notes

***Week 7, Semester Break***

WEEK 8 Lesson Number / title ‘Field trip to The Wellcome Collection’ Meeting time and Outside The Wellcome Collection on Venue In—class activity NONE Field trip to The Wellcome Collection

Background information for this field trip: The Wellcome Collection is described on its website as ‘the free destination for the incurably curious’. Website: http://www.wellcomecollection.org/

Taking this as our cue, we will begin this field trip by focussing on how aspects of The Wellcome Collection can be interpreted from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. We will then consider how The Wellcome Collection permanent collection seeks to bridge the gap Out—of—class activity between science and other disciplines and we will ask what this contributes to understandings of sexuality today.

We will then compare the permanent exhibitions – ‘Medicine Man’ and ‘Medicine Now’ – with the current temporary exhibition ‘States of Mind’ as well as the previous exhibition entitled ‘The Institute of Sexology’: http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/jul/17/sex-wellcome-collection- exhibition-november.

Required reading: • Hill, Jude: 2006. ‘Travelling Objects: The Wellcome Collection in Los Angeles, London and Beyond’. Cultural Geographies. July 2006, 13:3, pps 340-366. Readings • ‘AIDS Posters’ from The Wellcome Collection: http://www.wellcomecollection.org/explore/sickness--health/topics/aids- posters.aspx Assignments

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Notes

WEEK 9 Lesson Number / title ‘Imperialism, ‘Race’ and Sexuality’ Meeting time and CAPA centre Venue In—class activity Lecture and small group discussion Out—of—class activity NONE Required reading: • Carr, Robert. 'On 'Judgements' Poverty, Sexuality-Based Violence and Human Rights in 21st Century Jamaica'. The Caribbean Journal of Social Work. Vol 2. July Readings 2003. 71-87. • Johnson et al (2005). Black Queer Studies: An Anthology. • McClintock, Anne. (1995). Imperial Leather: Race, Gender and Sexuality in the Colonial Contest. London: Routledge, 1995. ***Engagement 4: Written response on the reading due for today*** Assignments This week’s engagement will be based on the course reading

Notes

WEEK 10 Lesson Number / title ‘Field trip to the British Museum’ Meeting time and Outside the main entrance to the British Museum Venue In—class activity NONE Out—of—class activity Self-guided tour around the British Museum Required reading: • Liddiard, Mark. ‘Changing histories: Museums, sexuality and the future of the past’. Museum and Society, March 2004. 2(1). 15-29. Readings • O’Neill, Mark. ‘Enlightenment museums: Universal or merely global?’ Museum and Society. Nov 2004, 2 (3) pps. 190-202. • Vanegas, Angela. ‘Representing lesbians and gay men in British social history museums’ in Museums, Society, Inequality. London: Routledge, 2002. Pps. 98-109. ***Engagement 5 for weeks 10-11 which is due at the beginning of week 11 class***: This week’s engagement involves responding to the British Museum collection entitled ‘Desire and Diversity’: http://www.britishmuseum.org/visiting/planning_your_visit/object_trails/desire_and_diversity.aspx

1. Choose 3 of the artefacts from the ‘Desire and Diversity’ trail. Is sexuality and/or gender a distinctive feature of each artefact? Refer to how each artefact reflects the period within which it is produced. Assignments 2. How does the overall collection of artefacts compare with the ones we saw from the Freud Museum or The Wellcome Collection? [Think of how Freud drew a direct parallel between archaeology and psychoanalysis; see weeks 2 and 3.] 3. Are there any striking absences in this specific collection of artefacts? 4. Is it more appropriate to use the term same-sex desire rather than the terms homosexual or gay when describing these artefacts? 5. Given the complexity of sexuality, what are the pros and cons of comparing representations of sexuality across different cultural and historical time periods?

Notes

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WEEK 11 Lesson Number / title ‘Heterosexuality and ‘whiteness’ Meeting time and CAPA London Centre Venue In—class activity Short lecture and small group discussion Out—of—class activity NONE Required reading: • Dyer, Richard (1997) Chapter One: ‘The Matter of Whiteness’ in White: Essays on Race and Culture. London: Routledge, 1997. pp. 1-40 • Dyer, Richard. ‘Heterosexuality’, in Lesbian and Gay Studies: A Critical Readings Introduction. Medhurst, A. and Munt, S., (eds). London: Routledge, 1993. pp. 261- 273. • ‘Heterosexual Questionnaire’ (1972) by Martin Rochlin. Available at: https://www.uwgb.edu/pride-center/files/pdfs/Heterosexual_Questionnaire.pdf

***Engagement 5: Response to the British Museum tour due today*** Assignments

Notes

WEEK 12 Lesson Number / title ‘Field trip to the Black Cultural Archives’ Meeting time and Outside Brixton tube station at the beginning of class Venue In—class activity NONE Out—of—class activity Field trip to the Black Cultural Archives Required reading: • Stuart Hall and Les Back. (2009). ‘At Home and Not at Home: Stuart Hall in Conversation with Les Back’. Cultural Studies, 23:4, 2009. 656-687. Readings • Gilman, S.L,. “Black Bodies, White Bodies: Toward an Iconography of Female Sexuality in Late Nineteenth-Century Art, Medicine, and Literature.” Critical Inquiry 12 (Autumn 1985): 204-242. NONE Assignments

WEEK 13 ‘Global “gay” and queer identities’ Lesson Number / title

Meeting time and CAPA London Centre Venue In—class activity Short lecture and small group discussion Out—of—class activity NONE Required reading: • Meghani, Shamira A., (2014) ‘Queer South Asian Muslims: The Ethnic Closet and its Secular Limits’ in Imagining Muslims in South Asia and the Diaspora. Eds. Claire Chambers and Caroline Herbet. London, Routledge. Pps. 172-184. • Puar, Jasbir. (2008). Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times. Readings Durham: Duke University Press, 2008. • Rao, Rahul. ‘Global Homocapitalism’. Radical Philosophy: Philosophical Journal of the Independent Left. 194 (Nov/Dec 2015). • Warner, Michael. (1993). Fear of a Queer Planet: Queer Politics and Social Theory. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press. 9

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Further suggested reading: Notes • Altman, Denis. ‘Global Gaze/Global Gays’. GLQ, Vol 3, 1997. Pps. 417-436.

WEEK 14 Lesson Number / title ‘Contemporary London and LGBTQ Life’ Meeting time and CAPA London Centre Venue In—class activity Short lecture and small group discussion Out—of—class activity NONE Required reading: • Brumfitt, Stuart. ‘Is London’s Gay Scene Dead?’, November 2015: https://i- d.vice.com/en_gb/article/is-londons-gay-scene-dead Readings • Ellis, SJ, ‘Community in the 21st Century: Issues Arising from a Study of British Lesbians and Gay Men’. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Psychotherapy. 11:1-2, 2007. 111-126. • Sinfield, Alan. Gay and After. London: Serpent’s Tail, 2008. ***Research Paper 2 due*** Assignments

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Attendance, Participation & Student Responsibilities

Attendance: CAPA has a mandatory attendance policy. Attendance is taken at the beginning of every class. Unauthorized absence from class will result in a reduction of the final grade and potentially a failure for the course.

Missing classes for medical reasons: If you need to miss a class for medical reasons or for a family emergency, you must send an e-mail to let the Associate Director of Academic Affairs (ADAA) know at least one hour in advance of your class or meeting at the following e-mail: [email protected]. Note that calling the CAPA Centre is acceptable only if you do not temporarily have access to the internet. An e-mail is still required as quickly as you can get access to the internet again. You will need to provide evidence of the reason for your absence. Unexcused absences will result in a grade reduction. In the event of a missed class or field trip, it is your responsibility to contact your instructor and make up any missed assign- ments.

Class Participation: Students are expected to participate actively and critically in class discussions, and the participation portion of the class will be graded accordingly. Students must read assignments BEFORE the class, and come in on time. Participation is a vital part of your grade: students are expected to participate orally in seminars and in online forums and discussions in a critical and evaluative manner; to interact with the faculty and fellow students with respect and tolerance; and to actively engage in discussion. Derogatory or inflammatory comments about the cultures, perspectives or attitudes of others in the class will not be tolerated.

Academic Integrity: A high level of responsibility and academic honesty is expected. Because the value of an academic course depends upon the absolute integrity of the work done by the student, it is imperative that a student demonstrates a high standard of individual honour in his or her scholastic work and class behaviour. Plagiarism and cheating will result in dismissal from the program. See the Handbook of CAPA Academic Policies for more information and resources on plagia- rism.

Use of electronic equipment in class: All devices such as laptops, i-pods, i-pads, netbooks, notebooks and tablets, smartphones, cell phones, etc. are NOT allowed unless you have express permission from the faculty or you have been in- structed to do so. If you require an accommodation to use any type of electronic equipment, inform the Associate Director of Academic Affairs at the beginning of Term.

Use of Electronic Translators: In Language courses students are NOT allowed to use electronic translators for writing texts in the target language: those submitting compositions and texts of whatever kind translated in such a fashion will receive a final F grade for the course.

Late Submission: Late submission of papers, projects, journal entries, pieces of homework and portfolios is only permitted with prior approval. A request must be made to the relevant Faculty member no later than two days prior to the due date. Late submission without prior approval will result in a full alpha grade penalty. In either case, work cannot be submitted af- ter feedback has been provided to the rest of the class on the relevant assessment or one week after the due date which- ever comes first, after which point a grade of F will be given for the assessment.

Behaviour during Examinations: During examinations, you must do your own work. Unless specifically instructed by the lec- turer or instructor, talking during an exam is not permitted, nor may you compare papers, copy from others, or collaborate in any way. Any failure to abide by examination rules will result in failure of the exam, and may lead to failure of the course and disciplinary action.

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